Sycamore Row - John Grisham

42
The detective was leaving the hospital as Lucien was entering it. They spoke briefly in
the main lobby, just a few words about Lonny Clark, still up there on the third floor and
not doing well. He’d had a rough night and his doctors said no visitors. Lucien got lost in
the hospital and surfaced on the third floor an hour later. There was no cop by the door,
no nurses tending to Lonny. Lucien sneaked into the room, gently shook Ancil’s arm,
and said, “Ancil. Ancil, are you there?”
But Ancil wasn’t there.
Within the tiny Brigance firm, there was a general agreement that the morning could
not have gone better. The presentation of the suicide note, funeral and burial
instructions, handwritten will, and the letter to Jake made it perfectly clear that Seth
Hubbard planned everything and was in control until the very end. Jake’s opening
statement had been persuasive. Lanier’s, though, was just as masterful. All in all, a good
beginning.
Jake began the afternoon session by calling to the stand the Reverend Don McElwain,
pastor of Irish Road Christian Church. The preacher told the jury he had spoken briefly
to Seth after the worship hour on October 2, a few hours before he hung himself. He
knew Seth was gravely ill, though he did not know the doctors had given him only
weeks to live. On that morning, Seth seemed to be in good spirits, alert, even smiling,
and told McElwain how much he enjoyed the sermon. Though he was sick and frail, he
did not appear to be drugged or under the influence. He had been a member of the
church for twenty years and usually showed up about once a month. Three weeks before
he died, Seth had purchased for $350 a plot in the cemetery, the same plot he now
occupied.
The church’s treasurer was next. Mr. Willis Stubbs testified that Seth dropped into the
offering plate a check in the amount of $500, dated October 2. For the year, Seth
contributed $2,600.
Mr. Everett Walker took the stand and shared a private moment in what was likely
Seth’s last conversation. As the two walked to the parking lot after church, Mr. Walker
asked how business was going. Seth made a crack about a slow hurricane season. More
hurricanes meant more property damage and demand for lumber. Seth claimed to love
hurricanes. According to Mr. Walker, his friend was sharp, witty, and did not seem to be
in pain. Of course he was frail. When Mr. Walker later heard that Seth was dead, and